Coping with Summer & Italian Tuna Salad Melt Sandwiches

It's summer yay. It's summer, oh no. Summer in southern Arizona means two completely separate things. Depending on the day it is really warm sunny weather, swimming pools, visiting the local peach farm, and fourth of july, and tons of fresh fruit & berries. On the other hand, summer = 105-118 temperatures for weeks at a time, too hot to go to the park, to hot to go to the swimming pool, must find creative ways to cook without heating up the kitchen, must find creative things to keep my 4 yr old from being too "bored". LOL. He has recently picked up the word, "bored" from someone, ugh. I hope it wasn't me. Anyways I thought we started off the summer strong... I enrolled him in 2 community classes - indoor soccer fundamentals class and an intro spanish class. It was hard to find a spanish class that was appropriate for his age, so I am super glad we did. Its a far drive but its only once a week. This week we are learning fruits. What a cool idea. I love the word strawberry it sounds like it should be fresh and refreshing. Fresa :)

So this post about Italian Tuna Salad Melt Sandwiches, which is completely amazing - the food not the post, was one of my dinners I had been saving and waiting to make until it got really hot outside. I though it would be refreshing, light, flavorful, easy, and not require much cooking. It did. It was perfect. What are your favorite things to eat during the summer, when you don't want to heat the place up? Please share summer tips below.  Word of warning though.... I made one extra for my hubby to eat later on (since he was working) and welll the food was so good I sort of ate it. So ummm... yeah. I don't over eat very often but this was REALLY AMAZING and messy. We had dinner on the living room floor on a blanket and had an indoor picnic with a movie, veggie chips, and these fun sandwiches. It was a good time. I made some of the sandwiches without cheese and some of them with cheese. The ones with the cheese were less messy - but we still made a mess of hands plates and the blanket as stuff fell off the english muffin. IF you are serving it to guests I would recommend eating with a fork and knife, unless you are like my son, and really enjoy eating with your hands.  Perfect for lunch or dinner.  Enjoy!

Italian Tuna Salad Melt Open Faced Sandwiches

Makes 3 sandwiches - 2 halves each
Time to Make: Approx 10-15 minutes
Easily doubled or singled to fit your family meal
Original recipe from Rachael Ray magazine April 2006. 

Ingredients:

1 small can of tuna 5-6 oz, packed in water, drained
1/6 cup of good olive oil
2 small radishes, finely chopped
2 celery ribs/stalks, washed, finely chopped
2 Tbs capers,
1/4 cup of romaine, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 large tomato cut into 6 thick even slices
3 slices of provolone cheese  (or more if you want each sandwich to have cheese)
1 tsp minced garlic (if you really like garlic do 2 tsp)
3 tsp of lemon juice
1 Tbs Italian seasoning blend
3 english muffins, i used whole wheat, but whatever you prefer except raisin or another sweet flavor
1/4-1/8 red onion, finely chopped (depending on how you feel about red onion)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to Broil & put the english muffins on a baking sheet. Bake for 2 minutes to start getting crisp and light brown on the edges.
2. While oven is working... chop all veggies: Radishes, celery, lettuce, red onion  - set aside
2. Whisk together the dressing:  Olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic lemon juice, and pepper.
3. Toss the veggies with the dressing in a large bowl.
4. Add the capers and tuna to the veggies and dressing. Toss thoroughly. Taste for salt & pepper.
5. Put the english muffins out of the oven and top each one with 1 slice of tomato.
6. Then using an ice cream scoop, gather and press one scoop of tuna salad mix onto the center of each tomato  - will look like a small heaping hill - the words my son used when he saw it.  If you use a little less or use a large bread/roll you might have an easier lol less messy time than we did. But might miss out on the fun.
7. Top each with cheese if using.
8. Bake for another 2-4 minutes until cheese is completely melted, just keep an eye on it.

Serve slightly cooled. Cheese can be very hot straight from the oven. Serve with chips, watermelon, lemonade, fresh berries or any other great summer time favorites. 

Note: This filling/Tuna Salad would be perfect with fresh thyme and arugula or baby spinach in a sandwich wrap.

From my kitchen to yours!